VATICAN CITY -- Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors meeting in Rome said there was a continued need to make safeguarding consistently part of the life of the church around the world.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will finally fulfill his desire to be a missionary to Japan when he visits the country, as well as Thailand, Nov. 20-26, the Vatican announced.

GENEVA -- With increasing concerns worldwide about human rights violations in Nicaragua, a Vatican representative has called for an immediate return to negotiations and a rollout of reforms necessary to hold "free and transparent elections" there.

NEGOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has finally won a concession from Sri Lanka's government after widespread criticism of the investigation into the deadly Easter Sunday attacks.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis appointed three delegate presidents for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.

MIAMI -- In the wake of Hurricane Dorian's brutal blasting of the Bahamas, Catholic organizations in Florida continued to raise funds to aid victims there.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- A yearlong investigation by Seton Hall University confirmed that Theodore McCarrick, the laicized cardinal who had been archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000, had sexually harassed seminarians during his tenure as head of the archdiocese.